


Making Do

by lori_yuy



Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VII (Video Game 1997), Final Fantasy VII Remake (Video Game 2020), Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children
Genre: Fluff and Crack, Friendship/Love, Funky Fashion, M/M, Planet Scar Syndrome | Geostigma, Sad with a Happy Ending, Survival
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-03
Updated: 2020-12-03
Packaged: 2021-03-09 23:20:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,174
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27854970
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lori_yuy/pseuds/lori_yuy
Summary: Post-Meteor, life's pretty much gone to hell for everyone, including Shinra's former employees.  The Turks however are a resourceful group and found ways to make do with what they can.
Relationships: Elena/Tseng (Compilation of FFVII), Reno/Rude (Compilation of FFVII), Rufus Shinra & The Turks, Rufus Shinra/Tseng
Comments: 7
Kudos: 22





	Making Do

Much was destroyed when Meteor hit. Midgar has been reduced to fallen structures and a shell of its former glory. Project Edge sprung up soon after Geostigma started hitting hard in Midgar's under city. The residents who are left were scrounging and salvaging whatever they can. In the midst of dreary living conditions, the Turks were still working hard on behalf of Shinra...on behalf of Rufus.

A week's work was exhausting - covering rescue efforts, clean up of major roadways by sector, securing what's left of Shinra Tower from multiple fronts, hunting down monsters that have gotten out of hand, and last but not least, finding supplies for their own survival. The Turks were a lucky bunch with the various skills that they shared amongst their little group - trained in everything including hunting, self-defense, home economics, basic medical knowledge, and general survival skills.

By the end of the week, their exhaustion was catching up to them. They had fallen asleep in one of the Sector 5 Employee Houses, one of the luckier sectors that still had useable homes left standing, when the clue to the whereabouts of their company President came to them in the form of former Director Veld. Veld shook his head at the state of what he would proudly and lovingly call his "kids". The four Turks were sprawled out across two large couches. Reno was snuggled up against Rude on one sofa while Elena, Emma's younger sister, was comfortably curled against Tseng on the other sofa. Tseng being the ever messy sleeper, was halfway on the couch and halfway on the floor when Veld found them. He tisked at their state of being. Several weeks out on rescue efforts has done a number on them. They all looked exhausted with bags under their eyes, barriers of civility were gone as each was stripped down to be comfortable in their sleep, sharing whatever blankets they could find. The suits that they wore proudly were discarded to the side looking like they've been through hell and back. The usually immaculate black suits were torn in various places, missing buttons, tearing at the seams, threads pulling loose in places, and randomly patched in other places. Their shoes were also showing signs of wear. When times were normal, the Department of General Affairs took care of the physical image of their Turks in a timely manner, replacing their clothes so that they were spotless as soon as one set started showing wear and tear in any manner. An immaculate image was part of a Turk's "charms" after all.

Veld lifted the blanket off of the foot end of Reno and Rude and snickered when he was greeted by four different socks. He shook his head and headed over to the other couch and did the same. Well, at least Tseng had matching socks. He tisked again when he saw Elena asleep clutching Tseng's tank top. When did Tseng allow women to be so close to him? The boy's all grown up and changed.

"WAKE UP!!!" Veld finally belted out at the four of them when he finished evaluating their condition. Groans and grunts answered him. "What are you all doing sleeping at a time like this? Shouldn't you be out looking for the President?" Word had reached Veld that Rufus Shinra had been abducted a second time now since Meteor happened, and here were his Turks, taking an afternoon nap. Not that he didn't understand that they were really tired but time is of the essence and Veld had gotten a little information that could help them track down the whereabouts of Rufus.

  
~...~

  
By the time they got Rufus out of the water hole, three of them were soaked and the other had splatters of bloody backsplash from shooting the doctor who kept Rufus under capture. Rufus froze for a second in Reno's embrace. Perhaps it was because he was cold and wet, but Elena and Tseng noticed the odd shiver that they've seen too many times while skimming through the undercity of Midgar. Tseng's heart sank a little but he kept his thoughts as positive as he could. _Veld and the other Turks had helped evacuate Midgar, Meteor hadn't destroyed their planet, they've found Rufus and he was mostly uninjured although a little starved, and lastly all four of them were still in one piece._ Those thoughts ran through his mind as he held onto Rufus tightly on the ride to the Cliffside Resort.

A little ways into the ride, Rufus sniffed at him. "Tseng you stink." Well at least he didn't catch a cold from being in the water and still had his olfactory senses. Elena giggled at the unfiltered comment from the President. "Sorry we've been busy and there's really no water to shower with in Midgar."

"You're all washing up first thing when we get to the Cliffside Resort. Myself included." Rufus declared before falling asleep in Tseng's warm embrace the rest of the way.

It wasn't that easy. First the Turks had to sweep the premises and secure the location, then it was rounds and rounds of cleaning the cabin they were going to stay in and then rolling in enough furniture for their needs for the moment. Rufus stood in the corner observing his men and women, noticing how tired and worn they were. Elena's jacket was almost as open as Reno's but luckily she had a sweater under to cover herself properly even though it was clearly a size or two too big for her. She probably found it somewhere while scavenging. Reno's usual attire was light on the actual "clothing" part but his look was sloppier now with the clip of his jacket lost while securing a site. Rude's chains were rusting and his usually immaculate jacket was stained with spots of unknown substance. Rude's tie was still in place funny enough but he was apparently running low on sunglasses. Tseng still looked good despite his jacket being torn in more than a few places. Rufus's eyes ran appreciatively over the muscles that showed under the ripple of the fabric. Tseng no longer had his gloves. They were ruined after hand to hand combat against a large snake monster that launched itself at them near the Shinra building.

At least the Cliffside Resort had plenty of amenities and furniture sitting around - that was a blessing. They were going to have to make do with whatever they could find at the moment. Even their credit cards were useless as most processing systems were down, and good luck trying to find a bank that's open. Communications was mostly down as well since the Lifestream that had rose up from the ground tore through various facilities and field communications equipment.

"BATH NOW." Rufus commanded as soon as enough furniture was moved into place. He was still a little soggy from being in the waterlogged cave. Whatever the dark liquid was had made him feel like shit. He wanted to wash those sensations away. Tseng led him away with Reno whistling, Rude staring at the wall, and Elena blushing. They found bath sponges, towels, and a stack of soap from one of the supply closets. Rufus was relieved and thankful that whomever was in charge of supplies at the facility before had the foresight to store extras. Tseng carefully scrubbed him down but stopped when he reached the back of Rufus's neck, just below where his hair settled over the skin. There was a dark spot there. Tseng stared at it for the longest moment. The silence became unbearable.

"Tseng, what's wrong?" 

"Sir....you have Geostigma." He could tell there was hesitation in Tseng's voice but Tseng also seemed fairly sure of what he just said.

Rufus had been hearing about the disease ravaging Midgar, but WHERE and HOW did he get it? Didn't his Turks say it was not contagious? He frowned and looked in the mirror and saw the exact spot. It was black, it was ugly, and ...it was spreading. The thought sent a painful shock through his system and he collapsed in agony. Tseng caught him in alarm and quickly dried and dressed him before carrying him to the bedroom. The next day, the doctor who was treating patients in the cave was glowing a little too happily at him about how he now needs stimulants to treat his pain too.

  
~...~

  
Reno and Elena were both surprisingly good hunters. They brought their catch into the resort, now renamed Healen Lodge, to keep a steady supply of meat and fish ready. Rude prepared for roasting over open fire out in the middle of the facility grounds. The wafting scent of food often drew out the new patients coming to Healen. Tseng took on a more domestic role to some people's surprise. He took charge of washing their clothes, however tattered they were now. He also started salvaging whatever useful seed and herb packets he found while digging through what's left of Midgar and started several garden patches in the back of the Lodge. Growing food was a slow endeavor but they had a steady supply of fresh baby greens at their disposal soon. Rufus glanced at the way Tseng tended to the garden with care. He must have picked that up from Aerith, whom they all owe a lot to. Rude was the one given the ingredients and cooked for them all. Elena on the other hand was excellent at using her charm skill to bargain for other necessities as she saw fit, necessities including a bag of marshmallows, some chocolate bars, and graham crackers to make s'mores over the open fire. 

On warm summer nights, they resorted to telling each other stories. Each one of them shared funny tidbits from their past and Elena and Reno have recently gotten into telling ghost stories for fun. They found a hand-crank powered flashlight from somewhere and used it in the dark for dramatic effect during storytelling. Although Rufus was often in pain, he didn't allow it to define him. In fact, he felt better when he didn't give thought to the fact that he was sick. Perhaps Geostigma was psychological in nature? Rufus chuckled as he leaned into Tseng while Elena described the ghostly encounters she had in the jungles. She was always so animated in her storytelling and sometimes ended up scaring herself with her own ghost stories, which was more entertaining than the stories themselves. 

There were good days and bad days with Geostigma, and through it all Rufus was only comfortable enough to allow Tseng to handle his physical and emotional needs but his other Turks always tried hard. One day, his Turks brought him a box of stuff he didn't expect that brought a little brightness to the gray and white walls of their cabin. Reno, Rude, and Elena had found instruments buried under the remnants of an instrument store. There was a flute, a violin, some cymbals (not a great idea), bells and triangles, a tambourine, some smaller drums, and a recorder (also not a good idea).

"I would lug the piano here too if I could." Reno grinned toothily before laying the instruments out for show. 

The trio would put together little music shows for the residents of Healen to lighten the mood, and it became a treat that the sick looked forward to. Rufus enjoyed watching them perform from the window with Tseng's support. 

At some point, his legs started giving out and Reno and Rude somehow built him an automated wheelchair from parts salvaged from Midgar. Thank goodness for the engineering skills on this team. On a particularly bad day, Rufus almost punched the mirror seeing the progression of Geostigma marring his skin and asked Tseng for something to cover himself up with. A few days later, Tseng found and gave him a large sheet. "You'd look like a ghost so I'm not sure it's better than just doing without."

"It's white. I like it." Rufus declared and threw the sheet over himself. It mentally made him feel better.

A few weeks later, Tseng came back with a laptop. Where and how he found it? Rufus won't even ask. It was actually a Shinra issued laptop with all the correct access software connected to Shinra Tower's backup computer system. The Turks have found a way to generate power within the building without alerting others, it helped that they've also secured the premises of the remnants of Shinra Tower as well. Reno and Rude lugged in a couple of large pieces of black colored boards.

"Solar panels." They explained as they hooked it up to a slew of battery backups that they found inside a warehouse. This helped power several electronics, and they even found a way to hook it up to charge his wheelchair's batteries.

  
There were days where Tseng was unusually quiet after helping Rufus clean up after a bad episode of Geostigma flare-up and black ooze. Sometimes he disappeared for hours the day after, leaving Elena or Reno to be with him instead. Rufus knew Tseng was feeling sad, but the stoic Turk did not allow himself to show it directly. There's no helping it. He was dying possibly, but by the looks of it, he was holding up better than a lot of the other patients at Healen. Geostigma was taking his life, but he wasn't allowing it to take it quickly. When Tseng returned later that day, he brought back a vase filled with bright yellow lilies. It became a single bright spot by the window sill. Rufus decided he liked it. The planet deserved to have more natural life and if he ever gets better he will see to it himself - he told Tseng as much and Tseng finally smiled genuinely in a long while.

~...~

"Oh but there was that time when you were all in my bar and my sister was throwing a drinking age birthday party for those two over there. Oh YOU should have seen what Tseng looked like when he was drunk for the first time!" Elena rambled on enthusiastically. Rufus fondly smiled at the stories being told while nestled beside Tseng on the couch. He nonchalantly ran a hand over the edge of Tseng's suit but frowned when he noticed how worn it really was. In fact, all of them probably needed new clothes by this point.

"Sir, is something wrong?" Tseng asked quietly.

"Well...I think you all need new clothes..." Rufus said as he rubbed the tattered edge of the suit that was fraying and splitting into its two layers of fabric.

Tseng sighed softly. That was the ONE thing that seemed to be hard to find now in Midgar. There were clothes but they were street clothes. Most of the shops that sold suits were upper-plate and upper plate has almost all been wiped out when weapon and Meteor came through and out of the clothes that are left in the rubbles, few of them haven't already been picked over by former residents Tseng discussed it with his Turks the following morning. Reno and Rude were excited about it, and Elena volunteered to sew if they could also find needles, thread, and some measuring tape. Several days of scavenging brought them several bolts of black fabric and surprisingly two bolts of still immaculate white fabric. Rude ransacked the leftovers of a hobby shop under plate and found the supplies that Elena would need to do her work, plus a pair of scissors. Scissors were always useful. He found a dress form and pins as well, although the dress form was a pain to bring back to Healen.

Elena laid the supplies out in the living room and examined them with approving nods of her head. "Hmm hmm ... not bad, not bad." She stepped back for a second then frowned.

"So, did any of you find buttons?"

Reno and Rude eyed each other. That's right, they found these things to make clothes. Buttons, right.

They went back into Midgar in search of buttons and after another two days prowling through the rubble, Rude dug up just a couple of packs of matching buttons. Reno....Reno found ZIPPERS.

Rufus sat on the couch a little amused as his Turks argued about the logistics of how to split the buttons and the zippers. Zippers were obviously needed for the pants, but so are buttons. The shirts also needed buttons, unless they were all going to look like Reno (minus Elena). After several schematics, it was clear that there weren't enough buttons to make their traditional look work. 

"Why can't we use zippers on the suit jackets? I don't think it would look that bad?" Reno finally suggested.

Rufus contemplated it. Tseng was insistent that Rufus at least got some buttons on his new shirts. They finally agreed that shirts will need buttons, pants will need at least one button thus the buttons are reserved for that, and they were going with zippers for their suit jackets. Elena went to work.

Rufus wanted to laugh badly when they first put the new suits on. They still looked like Turks but far from their usual image. Elena's handiwork can only compare about 50% to a tailor's work but they have functional and decent clothing now. They were thankful for her skills. The shine of the zipper against their chests were still amusing even a week later.

When Vincent Valentine rescued Tseng and Elena, he raised an eyebrow, not because they were hurt, but because their fashion was less than acceptable image for Turks. They had it tough too then. Vincent shouldn't be critiquing their fashion however while wearing his 32 year old bright red and gold getup so he just shut up and treated their wounds instead.

Kadaj eyed the former President of Shinra Company, draped in a ridiculous looking oversized sheet the entire time. He had also put on a random set of boots when they left in a hurry. What Rufus had on now looked like women's boots. When Rufus stood up tearing the sheet off, his eyes widened. Not only was the ex-President not as badly ill as he pretended to be, but he held Jenova, HIS MOTHER, in his lap...the ENTIRE TIME. Kadaj's anger rose exponentially as Rufus chucked his MOTHER's head off the side of the building unceremoniously before jumping off himself to dodge the magic thrown in anger his way. The man in layers of black and white pulled out some kind of trick shotgun and fired at him.

As Rufus and his Turks regrouped below the building where the nets caught him, Tseng nodded at him just a tad earlier than the other Turks. There was an understanding. He did not lose Tseng and Tseng did not lose him. The funky shine of the zippers against their chests reminded him of the inane little everyday life things they still faced. There was hope, there was humor, and there was love. Then there was rain.

**Author's Note:**

> This idea was sparked by the awfully out of place look that the Turks' suits had in Advent Children.
> 
> I headcanon that Rufus slipped on a random pair of Elena's boots when Kadaj decided to take him to Edge.


End file.
